A Sign of Things to Come?

Though Halloween has passed, 13 could be a telling number for the 8th ranked Blue Devils. In their near-loss to Rhode Island Sunday, Duke managed only 13 bench points. There is no way that is going to be enough this year on a roster that has been touted as deep and a reserve squad that should be talented and improved.

Greg Paulus will have to do better than three points, even if he continues to come off the bench. Elliot Williams will need to be coaxed into the guard position like Nolan Smith was last year, but he will need to contribute points. Miles Plumlee can get by with no points, but he has to do better than having no rebounds. He was brought to Duke to bruise and battle underneath the basket.

Of course, the Devils' problems were not underneath the basket Sunday. They were on the perimeter, where they let the Rams shoot 71 percent for the game and an unbelievable 7-for-9 in the second half alone. Jimmy Baron went 8-for-10 from behind the arc by himself. Duke cannot allow this to happen over and over again this year.

The Devils did not have any long-range shooting themselves to counter Baron's performance. They went 4-for-17 from behind the three-point line. When you cannot guard the perimeter and cannot compensate for it on offense, you are not going to win many games.

Duke showed heart Sunday by staying in the game and finally taking the lead. A number of teams would have crumbled to a shocking and throwaway loss such as this on could have been to Rhode Island. However, the game felt like Duke's win against Belmont last year in the tournament. Yes, they won, but where do they go from here?